Game Preview: New England Patriots travel to Denver Broncos for AFC Championship game

The New England Patriots advanced to their fifth straight AFC Championship Game, joining the Oakland Raiders (1973-77) as the only NFL teams to reach five straight conference championship games.

Bill Belichick will coach in his 10th conference championship game to match Tom Landry for the most in NFL history.

Tom Brady has reached his 10th AFC Championship Game to match Gene Upshaw and George Blanda for the most appearances in the title game. Excluding the 2008 season due to injury and the 2000 season when Brady played in just one game, Brady has led the Patriots to 10 title games in 14 seasons as the starter. The Patriots will attempt to reach back-to-back Super Bowls for the second time in team history. The Patriots won back-to-back Super Bowls in 2003 and 2004. A Patriots win would give them their ninth Super Bowl berth, breaking a tie with Dallas and Pittsburgh for the most in NFL history.

WHERE TO WATCH

Tavern on Broadway turns the volume all the way up on their flat screens and has an amazing football munchies menu.

Nikolas Pizza runs a great deal. A large one topping pizza, a dozen wings and 60oz pitcher of beer or sangria for $21.95. Full volume on the tv’s and the direct tv package.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
TELEVISION: This week’s game will be broadcast by CBS and can be seen locally on WBZ-TV Channel 4 in Boston. Jim Nantz will handle play-by-play duties with Phil Simms as the color analyst.

NATIONAL RADIO: This week’s game will be broadcast to a national audience on Westwood One. Kevin Harlan will call the game alongside Dan Fouts and Boomer Esiason with Mark Malone providing sideline analysis.

LOCAL RADIO: 98.5 FM, The Sports Hub, is the flagship station for the Patriots Radio Network. Play-by-play broadcaster Bob Socci will call the action along with former Patriots quarterback Scott Zolak, who will provide color analysis.

PATRIOTS IN THE AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Patriots are 8-3 in the AFC Championship Game, including a 5-1 record at home and a 4-1 mark at Gillette Stadium.

SERIES HISTORY
The New England Patriots and Denver Broncos will meet for the second time in 2015, for the fifth time in the postseason and for the second time in an AFC Championship Game.

The Patriots traveled to Denver on Nov. 29 this season and lost, 30-24 in overtime in a Sunday Night Football game.

The Patriots and Broncos have played in three divisional playoff games and one AFC Championship Game. The last time they played in the postseason was the 2013 AFC Championship Game, a 26-16 Denver win at Sports Authority Field.

The teams have met in the regular season in each of the last five years, with the Patriots winning the first four games.

This week’s game will mark the third time the teams have played twice in a season. The teams met twice in 2011 and 2013 with a divisional postseason game in 2011 and the AFC Championship Game meeting in 2013, in addition to the regular season matchups.

The Patriots and Broncos have played in 46 regular season games with Denver holding a 26-20 edge and four postseason games with Denver in front, 3-1.

The Patriots are 9-20 overall in games played in Denver, including 0-3 in the playoffs.

The Patriots have played more games against the Broncos than any other team that has never been in New England’s division.

The history between the teams dates back to the first days of the American Football League in 1960. The Patriots played the Broncos in the inaugural game of each franchise, a 13-10 Denver win on Sept. 9, 1960 at BU Field. The teams squared off twice a year in the decade prior to the AFL-NFL merger, except for 1967 and 1969.

SERIES BREAKDOWN
INCLUDING PLAYOFFS

Overall Record, 21-29 (Including 1-3 in playoffs)
Record in New England, 12-9
Record in Denver, 9-20 (Including 0-3 in playoffs)
Total Points in the Series, Denver 1,129, Patriots 1,074
Bill Belichick vs. Denver, 8-12 (8-8 with New England)

BRADY VS. DENVER
Tom Brady is 5-6 against the Broncos in the regular season and 1-2 against Denver in the postseason following a 2005 AFC Divisional playoff loss in Denver, the 2011 AFC Divisional victory at Gillette Stadium and the 2013 AFC Championship Game.

BRADY VS. MANNING: THE STATS
Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have had many epic games against each other over the course of their careers. This week’s game will be the third overall Brady-Manning game since Peyton Manning’s departure from the Indianapolis Colts. Despite playing in separate divisions following the 2002 NFL division reformatting, the Patriots and the Colts played each other an astounding 17 times since 2001 overall. With the exception of the 2011 regular season matchup – a game which Peyton Manning missed due to a neck injury – and the 2008 regular season game that Tom Brady missed following an ACL tear, Brady and Manning have started at quarterback for their respective teams in every game dating back to Sept. 30, 2001. Sunday’s game between the Patriots and the Broncos will mark the 16th time that Brady and Manning have started opposite one another.

Although Manning holds a regular-season advantage over Brady in touchdowns, yards and completions, the Patriots have won eight of the 11 regular season games in which the two quarterbacks have faced each other.

Brady and Manning have also faced each other four times in the postseason. The Patriots are 2-2 in those four playoff games with Brady posting a better passer rating (85.1) than Manning (74.8).

BRADY POSTSEASON GAMES
The 2015 playoff game vs. Kansas City was Tom Brady’s 30th postseason game, tied with Adam Vinatieri for the most in NFL history.

BRADY TIES NFL RECORD WITH HIS 10TH CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
Tom Brady will appear in his 10th conference championship game to tie Gene Upshaw and George Blanda for the most conference championship game appearances.

BELICHICK & ALL-TIME IN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCES
Bill Belichick reached his 10th conference championship as a head coach in 2015, to tie the 10 by Tom Landry for the most by a head coach since the 1970 merger.

ALL-TIME POSTSEASON WINS BY AN OWNER
Robert Kraft has 25 career postseason wins, which is the third-most in NFL history.

KRAFT PRODUCES MORE WINS THAN EVERY OTHER PATRIOTS OWNER COMBINED
The Patriots have 266 wins overall under Robert Kraft. He has produced more victories than every other Patriots owner combined. Under Kraft, the Patriots are 266-123 overall since he purchased the team in 1994. Kraft’s predecessors in the owner’s office went 225-276-9 in the 34 years prior to his purchase of the team.